Auction of 44 mineral blocks cancelled: Govt

The auction of 44 mineral blocks has been annulled with maximum 14 such mines from Maharashtra, the government said today.

A total of 87 mineral blocks have been notified till now for auction of which 43 have gone under the hammer till July 26, Minister of State for Mines Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

The 44 mines whose auction has been annulled include Maharashtra (14), Karnataka (7), 5 each in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and 4 in Odisha, among others.

Of these mines, 24 are limestone blocks, 9 (iron ore), 5 (bauxite), 2 (copper), among others, the minister said.

 

The government had earlier said states will earn a revenue of Rs 1.55 lakh crore over the lease period from 43 auctioned mines.